In October 2018, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) Registry Program launched the Shoulder & Elbow Registry (SER). The first module focused on shoulder arthroplasty procedures, with additional modules supporting elbow arthroplasty and rotator cuff repair anticipated. We are pleased to announce that all three areas of focus are now available within SER. They represent high-volume procedures that are performed across the specialty and often in outpatient settings.

Gerald R. Williams Jr., MD, chair of the SER Steering Committee said, “SER, the first of a number of planned offerings emerging from the experience of the highly successful American Joint Replacement Registry (AJRR), demonstrates the Academy’s commitment to providing an infrastructure for our members to study outcomes of their procedures.”

A number of SER participant sites began their Registry experience with AJRR. SER modules can easily be added via an addendum to a site’s existing contract. Whether participating in one Registry or more, all sites receive full logistic and technical support from RegistrySupport@aaos.org. When sites choose participation in multiple Registries under one contract, they gain the ability to navigate across all of them within a single RegistryInsights^® platform.

RegistryInsights also enables surgeons, who have submitted data through their participating sites, to confidentially access Surgeon Dashboards. It allows them to review their patient data and compare a growing list of statistics and analytics to national benchmarks. Read more about Surgeon Dashboards here.

SER’s goal is to collect data on shoulder and elbow arthroplasty and rotator cuff repair procedures across the United States. This data will help improve patient care by providing insights to participating hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, practice groups, surgeons, and site administrators. Learn more about SER data elements here. SER can also serve patients directly by providing them with information on quality results for procedures they are about to undergo.

SER Participation Benefits and Features

SER benefits include, but are not limited to:

• Informing decisions by utilizing SER metrics and national benchmarks
• Ability to re-use data to meet the participation standards of federal quality initiatives, insurer distinction programs, and certification programs
• Providing data to make informed decisions on reducing complication and revision rates
• Sharing ideas/best practices through the User Group Network
• Device surveillance capabilities to identify poor-performing implants
• A Public Advisory Board that helps ensure the patient voice is represented
• Demonstrating commitment to quality care through Registry participation

SER features include, but are not limited to:

• An Authorized User account and unlimited Data Submission accounts
• Surgeon User accounts to access dashboards on their patient population
• Access to national performance benchmarks
• Access to the RegistryInsights patient-reported outcome (PRO) platform
• Custom reports created by the AAOS Registry Program analytics team
• Access to monthly Registry webinars and technical support

Bringing Registry Value to AAOS Members

“As a member-driven organization we know registries help the frontline orthopaedic surgeon doing these procedures to collect quality data without having to create the entire infrastructure him- or- herself. Registries will serve a vital role in empowering orthopaedic surgeons to demonstrate quality based on their data,” said Dr. Williams.

The efforts of “surgeon champions” are essential to SER success. Citing the experience of AJRR, the world’s largest orthopaedic registry based on annual procedural volume, David G. Lewallen, MD, medical director for AJRR said, “Almost all hospitals that have joined AJRR did so because of the efforts of individual surgeons who voiced their opinion (at their practice sites) that participation is important.”

Following this lead, the AAOS Registry Program developed SER with the support of individual surgeons, as well as insights from the SER Steering Committee whose representation includes: Arthroscopy Association of North America (AANA), American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM), American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES), American Society for Surgery of the Hand (ASSH), AAOS Registry Program Public Advisory Board (PAB).

Find Out More

Academy members interested in becoming SER surgeon champions for their practice sites are encouraged to contact the AAOS Registry Program at RegistryInfo@aaos.org.

Interested in a demo or enrolling your site in SER? Contact RegistryEngagement@aaos.org.

For information about the AAOS RegistryInsights platform, speak with a Registry Engagement Associate at (847) 292-0530 or Request A Demo today!